Unlike Any Other
by walk-the-line
Summary: Sequel to You Saved Me. Sophia Belikov is the daughter of Rose and Dimitri. She is sent to St. Vladimir's to where it all began. Not only does she find she has to prove herself, but discovers along the way true friendships, difficult challenges, and a frustrating student mentor. Will Sophia find the key of the prophecy within herself that will altar the world forever?
1. The New Story

**Alright so here it is the sequel to you saved me. I hope everyone is interested in it I have a lot of exciting things planned. Here's the beginning to Sophia's story! Enjoy!**

My name's Sophia Belikov. I'm 16 years old and am the daughter of Rose Belikov and Dimitri Belikov. I'm 5'2, have my mother's long dark brown hair and both of my parents dark brown eyes. I belong to a world that is very much secret to mankind. I am a Dhampir and yes this story has been written before, but as much as I don't like to flaunt it, I'm no ordinary Dhampir. I was born because of a prophecy, my dad was once a strigoi and my mother saved him out of her bravery and love. It makes me shiver and go blek so I'm only going to say this once throughout my story, but during the process I was conceived. Ok now that that's over with I'll go on. Now the prophecy was really about my mom restoring my dad's soul and making him become a dhampir again, but apparently the one who restores the soul was supposed to be a moroi, the prophecy was supposed to show that by strigoi and moroi, more moroi could be born into society, but my mother is a dhampir. There's not much information left that my family could find about the prophecy, all that I know is that the prophecy baby, that's me, was supposed to be moroi, I'm not. The book also said that "This child will be like no other… and alter the way of our world." No pressure or anything. Like I said, I'm no ordinary Dhampir, I look like one, but not only can I live on food, I also need to drink blood, no I don't have fangs, making it hard for me however to drink the stuff, but I've learned my ways. I don't know if I have any other moroi traits, but who knows what will happen as I grow. Anyways this is my story.

I dodged a punched and kicked the feet under my one and only dad, Dimitri Belikov. The sound of his body hitting the floor brought a smirk to my face. He jumped to his feet and maintained his fighting stance.

"Not getting soft in your older age, are you dad?" I joked amused. I barely had time to finish my sentence before my dad landed a kick at my side that managed to push me back and knock me off guard.

"You see you're just like your mother, making your cleaver little remarks rather than putting your entire focus on the fight at hand." He replied with a smirk on his face as I dodged a punch. We continued to spar and I managed to get a few good hits in. My dad eventually called it quits and picked up a towel to wipe his face. I walked over to him and waited impatiently.

"Well? What do you think? Is my training paying off? Am I getting better? Maybe even good enough to kick some Strigoi butt?" I rattled off a bunch of questions one by one getting very excited. He chuckled and placed his arm around my shoulder.

"You're getting there, but you still got quite a ways to go. I'm sure you'll have an advantage over your classmates having trained with your mother and myself, but don't rush into it. You have a lot of your mother in you and she always wanted to just jump into battle when she was young too. Just remember if you're defenseless run and ne-." My dad started his lecturing, but I cut him off.

"And never hesitate, I know dad, you've been teaching me these tactics my whole life." I said grinning at my father. He smiled, kissed my head and gave me one of his serious looks.

"Just always remember them my dochka." He replied and with that my mother, Rose Belikov walked into the room. I watched as my father's eyes turned to her and as sickeningly as it was to me, the love that swelled out of his eyes could never be mistaken. He walked over to her and they both smiled lovingly to each other and he leaned down to kiss her lips.

"You two are late, you weren't supposed to be out training so long." She remarked looking between the two of us. I smirked and walked over to them and we all walked out of the gym together as my mother wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

"Mom I need all the training that I can get. I'm lucky I got two parents with a kick ass reputation so I can show all those other Dhampirs I got a lot in me… and hopefully that'll keep them distracted enough to not all gawk at me because I'm different." I replied, then took a deep sigh, my mother's hand tightened on my shoulder.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being different, you know how different I was to everyone? How many people talked about me? You're just like me too, very outspoken, so if anyone makes any stupid comments for some reason, just fight back, but no one will say anything stupid because what you are is extraordinary, and you are going to make an amazing guardian one day." I smiled at my mother's words as my father wrapped his arm around both of us.

"I can't say your mother's outspokenness always helped her, especially since I did bail her out sometimes because of it, but she's right about everything else, you are amazing and very special. No other two Dhampirs in this world can make any kind of baby together, so that has always told us that, you are in this world for a reason Soph, and I don't think, I know you are going to do amazing things, and our world will know who you are." My father said with pride in his voice. I looked at him with tears in my eyes and he embraced me in his arms.

"Come on Sophia, we should finish your packing. Tomorrow it will be no more homeschooling; you are 16 now and like we agreed it's off to St. Vladimir's." My mother smiled. I smiled back at her and we all walked into our home. I was going to miss it here so much. It was going to be hard to be away from my parents, but they were right, I was going to kick some serious ass at this school!

I had just gotten off a plane in "God Knows Where" Montana. I gathered my bags and wandered around until I found a guy, who seemed to be a Dhampir holding a sign that said "Sophia Belikov". I walked over to him and pointed at him.

"My ride?" I said smirking; he grinned back at me and put the sign down. I looked him up and down. He was pretty attractive with his messy brown hair, and dark blue eyes. He looked in his 20's and was built like a typical guardian Dhampir. At a height about 6 feet he wasn't bad on the eyes. He grabbed my bag from my hands and pointed towards the exit.

"Well I'm assuming you can read, so you must be Sophia. Hi my name's Hunter Carlson; I'm going to be your mentor at St. Vladimir's." Hunter said cheerfully, extending his hand. I shook his hand and we went on our way. He put the bags in the back of the car and we set out on the highway towards the academy. I looked out the window, taking in my surroundings, than turned back and looked at Hunter.

"So if you're going to be my mentor that means you'll be the one mainly training me then right? Teaching me how to stake strigoi and behead them?" I asked excitedly. Hunter let out a laugh and turned to smile at me.

"Well you're interested, that's good, but don't get too ahead of yourself, we'll start with the basics and the evaluation of your technique, see if you are around the same level as the other students, all homeschooled students start with an evaluation their first day of training, standard procedure just to see if they meet standards and don't need the extra training the academy is willing to provide." Hunter explained to me. I raised an eyebrow at him and turned so I was facing him more in my seat.

"You do know who my parents are right? I've been sparing since I was two." I retorted back. Really, an evaluation, I don't need no evaluation, well I guess I do have to prove myself, it's what I've been working for like crazy the past two weeks. Hunter smirked at me as he turned off the highway onto a road engulfed in trees.

"Don't worry Sophia, everyone knows exactly who your parents are, everyone knows exactly who you are." Hunter replied. I glared at him and turned back to look out the window. We were entering through a huge gate and stopped to clear with the guardian who we were. As Hunter was speaking to the gateman, I looked up and took in the giant castle like building towering over me. I gaped a little and looked around seeing students swarming, hugging each other from being gone all summer and talking animatedly to one another. I turned back towards Hunter as he started driving again.

"No, they don't know me, they know of me. " I replied. Hunter stopped in front of a separate building across the way from what seemed to be the main building of the school that I had been gaping at earlier. Must be where most of the classes take place. He turned towards me and gave me a look of brief understanding then he turned to open his door. I followed suit and met him at the trunk to grab my bags. As he lifted the last one out, he paused and looked at me.

"Well I'm looking forward to you showing me who you are." Hunter stated. I smirked at him and he helped me deliver my bags to my room. I spent the rest of the day settling into my dorm room and unpacking my bags. It was a nice little room and having the privacy of a single room was a plus. The room provided a single bed, a desk for my laptop and books, a dresser for my clothing, and a closet. After I finished unpacking, I decided to take a walk around the grounds and get myself familiar with the buildings. On my walk I discovered two other buildings to be the younger girl and boy dhampir dorms and on the other side of the campus was all the moroi dorms and in between it all was the main building, the school. I walked into the school and found my way to the cafeteria. A lot of students were there, sitting having dinner, and mingling with friends. I stood observing all the students, feeling slightly insecure that I was alone and had no one. My attention was brought to a bunch of dhampir boys laughing at a table in the corner. Senior's I figured, they seemed so comfortable in their skin, and set off an authority of some sort. As I observed the group of boys, I noticed that I had caught the attention of one as their eyes landed on mine. He had deep green eyes that seemed to consume your soul. Dark messy hair that was no doubt styled that way. I looked at his body and noticed his amazing build, he was like a God. I wondered what it would be like to spar with him. Lost in my thoughts, I became unaware of my surroundings and my focus was soon torn away from the unknown boy to the girl tripping into me. I reached my hands out to steady her and placed her softly in front of me. The girl was taller than me, standing about at 5'6, with a slim build like that; it was easy to tell she was moroi. She had beautiful light blond hair, and light green eyes.

"You alright there?" I asked the girl as she regained her composure. She brushed off her clothing and smiled at me. I watched as she took in my appearance and I wondered if just my looks let people know who I might be.

"Yes, thank you, I apologize; I wasn't really watching where I was going. I'm sorry you look unfamiliar, are you new this year?" the girl asked in a very sweet voice that I couldn't help and smile at and feel like I wanted to open up to her. She reminded me very much of my Aunt Lissa.

"Yes, I was home schooled my whole life, this is my first year at the academy, but I'm a junior, my name's Sophia." I replied, extending my hand to the girl for her to shake. She smiled and shook my hand.

"I'm a junior too! How nice, maybe we'll have some of the same classes, my name is Arabella Swan. Hey, if you don't mind, want to come see the feeders with me? I was just heading there, but I'd like to get to know you." Arabella replied, I smirked thinking about my own hunger. I liked Arabella, from what I could tell she was a very sweet girl, now she would withstand the test.

"Sure, I'm actually kind of hungry myself." I replied. Arabella gave me an odd look, but I counted down the seconds precisely as the recognition began to form across her face. What I least expected happened, her shock grew into excitement.

"You're Sophia Belikov aren't you? Oh my God, your parents are Rose and Dimitri Belikov! They're legends! I've always wanted to meet you! Do you have super powers or anything?" My eyes bulged as Arabella rambled off questions excitedly. My shock wore off and turned into laughter.

"As far as I can tell? No. I'm just like every other dhampir person, I just need to feed on blood, since I was born, and I've needed it." I replied, shrugging my shoulders. Arabella smiled at me and linked her arm through mine. I followed her as she led us towards the feeders.

"Well Sophia Belikov, normal dhampir, welcome to the club." Arabella said cheerfully as we entered the feeder's room. I gazed at her amused and smirked.

"What club?" I asked with laughter in my voice. Arabella stood for a minute thoughtful, and then shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know we'll come up with something." She replied. We both looked at each other and laughed together and just like that, I had met my new best friend, Arabella Swan.

**First chapter! So what did everyone think? Please review, I already have more written so it won't be long for an update.**


	2. The Evaluation

**Alright I'm posting the second chapter, where a new character is going to introduced. I'm so excited, I have all these plans written out for this story its going to be awesome!**

The next day was the first day of actual classes and my evaluation day. I woke up at 5:30 pm, the sun was just setting and I groaned with having to get up so early. As I brushed my hair I started to think about the events before me. Hunter had told me not to be nervous, that the evaluation was more of a formality if anything, but I still I really wanted to show him that I was really made of something. I pulled on some track pants, a tank top, and a hoodie and headed out the door. I ran into the gym to find Hunter waiting for me on the bleachers. He smiled and stood up as I walked over to him.

"Hey Soph how you feeling? Get settled in?" Hunter asked, placing down the book he had been reading before I showed up. I put my bag down on the bleachers and started doing some stretches.

"Sure I did, I unpacked, walked around campus, probably had every single member of the student body stare at me and whisper, oo and I met a girl who actually wasn't weirded out that I'm a dhampir and I drink blood. Can we get started now?" I said with mocked excitement. Hunter raised his eyebrows amused and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Alright funny girl, let's get to it then. We're going to start off with a warm up then. Five laps around the track, then a series of push-ups, crunches, squats, lunges, and then we'll spar, got it?" Hunter asked awaiting my reaction. Without a word, I nodded and took off around the track. I did all his requested workouts with it barely even fazing me. I smirked to myself as I finished my last couple reps of lunges. I remember my mother telling me my dad made her run for months when she was training; it was my dad's number one defense and he had me doing it well ever since I could run. He always told me that if anything he wanted to know that if I ever faced danger that I at least had the ability to run to defend myself. As I finished my lunges, I stood up to face Hunter. He stood observing, eyeing my form. I glanced around me as he walked towards me. I noticed that the students were starting to form as the morning hours drew close to the beginning of class. I put my eyes back on Hunter, refusing to let it distract me. "Alright looks like you're ready. Here are the guidelines; we'll spar within these pylons. Everything free game except above the shoulders?" Hunter asked. I threw off my jacket and set myself up into my fighting stance.

"If this was a real fight, there would be no guidelines. Above the shoulders is fine." I replied, focused, bringing my hands up and tightening them into fists. Hunter smiled approvingly and set himself up for the fight.

"Alright, let's go then." Hunter stated and with that we both took action. We circled one another and I waited patiently for him to make the first move. He did throwing a punch towards me. I managed to side step and throw a kick towards his side and he blocked it with his arm. As we continued to spar we both managed to get a few hits in. As things were getting more intense and speeding up, Hunter caught me off guard and kicked me in the chest, pushing me back. As he grabbed my shoulders about to twist me around, I managed to bring my knee up to my chest and kick out at him shooting him back. I didn't hesitate; I kicked two more times into Hunter's chest, sending him to the ground. I stood above him smirking, but then got my feet kicked from underneath me and I was lying on the ground. Hunter got up and helped me to my feet. "Well not bad Belikov, I have to say your moves are pretty impressive for your age. Probably one of the top ranks of your class, you'll have no problems being thrown into the rest of your classes. Your little bit of cockiness just threw you at the end there. Don't let this get to your head, you still have a ways to go, but I can definitely say that you're talented. Enjoy your day, we'll start training tomorrow, you can relax now." Hunter said smirking at me as I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him. He turned around and took off, it was then I noticed the crowd that had formed and everyone looking at me. I hadn't realized we had an audience, as I looked around me the students started to continue on their way, whispering and staring. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the bleachers to pick up my bag and hoodie. I noticed a shadow in my vision and turned and looked up into deep green, Ivashkov, looking eyes. This was the guy I had been staring at in the dining hall when I met Arabella. I turned towards him and straightened up, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Yes?" I asked crossing my arms across my chest. He smirked and shoved his hands into his pockets and eyed me up and down.

"That was quite a show you put on there. Are you a senior from a different school?" He asked.

"No, actually I'm a junior; I was homeschooled at the royal court. My parents taught me everything I know." I replied. He widens his eyes in shock and seems to examine me more. I place my hands on my hips and shoot him an annoyed look. "Is there something I can help you with?" I say annoyed. He looks back up at my face and seems to come to some sort of realization.

"Oh! You're that girl that everyone's talking about! You're that special dhampir chick right?" He states. I scoff and turn my back to him walking away briskly, but he doesn't seem to get the hint and runs after me. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it, it's cool, I've always wanted to actually see you in person, you have some legendary parents, I can understand now where you get your moves. My names Landon I..." I turn around quickly, cutting him off and grab him by his black t-shirt collar and pull him in close to my face.

"Look I'm not some species you can just dissect; I'm a person, who just happens to have some different skills then other dhampirs, so by calling me that special dhampir girl, you're really get on my bad side Landon, so listen up and take my advice, my name that you so failed to ask me is Sophia, remember it and next time you see me try saying something more polite or it won't be your collar I grab you by." I finished my lecture and turned around and walked away. As I headed to go get ready for classes, I smirked to myself, good one Soph.

Landon's POV

I walked down the hall as the last class of the day let out. I had spent the majority of the day thinking about Sophia. I couldn't believe how much of an idiot I had come off to her, but at the same time she was just really defensive. I was snapped out of my thoughts as I heard someone calling my name. I turned my head back and realized it was Hunter catching up to me. I look at my watch and look at Hunter puzzled.

"We weren't training for another couple hours I thought." I say confused glancing down at my watch. Hunter grabs my arm and pulls me aside.

"You're right, we aren't, but I have to tell you something, I'm probably not supposed to, but you're my favourite student so I want you to know, it's probably going to be a shock for most students." Hunter replies. I look at him now starting to feel a little concerned. I glance around the hall and talk in a hushed voice.

"Is it bad? Are we being taken to some strigoi haven or something?" I reply feeling a little excited at the thought of it, showing off just how much I've learned and worked hard for. Hunter throws his head back and laughs hard. I look at him annoyed and feel little offended. "Well what then?" I Ask. Hunter looks back at me, the laughter gone and the serious look back on his face.

"There's going to be an assembly tomorrow. All the senior dhampirs will be assigned to mentor a junior for the rest of the year." Hunter replies. I look at him dumbfounded, a million questions running through my mind.

"Won't that take away from our training though? I ask feeling a little angry. Hunter shakes his head and places his hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be good for you all. You need to know what it's like to mentor and train other dhampirs and training with them will keep you in practice. Don't worry it's all going to work out just fine. We will still have training sessions once a week, me and you to keep you up to par. Anyways I have to get going, but I'll see you in a couple hours ok?" Hunter says and takes off down the hall as I stand there watching his back. I didn't know how this was going to play out, I mean I'm an awesome soon to be guardian, if I do say so myself. I just hoped this worked and that the dhampir I got to train wasn't going to be too difficult.

**Please review! It'll help me write faster.**


	3. The New Mentor

**Here it is chapter 3! Things should hopefully start moving quite a bit from here. I like this chapter because you discover a little bit more about Landon! **** Enjoy!**

Sophia's POV

I woke up and quickly jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready. I promised Arabella that I would meet her for breakfast and then head to first class together. It turned out luckily enough that we had pretty much all the same academic courses. We just had to go our separate ways when she had her magic classes and I had training. After throwing my uniform on, consisting of a plaid skirt, and a boring white blouse, I brushed my hair quickly and raced out of the building, to the dining hall. As I walked into the room, I looked around scanning for Arabella. I laid eyes on a blond girl staring down at book eating a muffin; I smiled and walked over to her, plopping down beside her. She turned and grinned handing me an extra chocolate chip muffin.

"You're late." She stated smirking at me and closing her book. I rolled my eyes and placed myself in the seat beside her instantly biting into the muffin she gave me. I looked around for something to drink and Arabella handed me a glass of orange juice. I nodded my thanks and downed the whole glass.

"You'll come to realize that I'm always late, it's just who I am, you'll have to endure it, especially with me having to get up at the break of dawn, or dusk in this case to go and train with Hunter before class." I said pouting finishing up my muffin. I glanced down at the book she was reading and realized it was a textbook about elemental magic. Arabella noticed me looking at her textbook and blushed.

"I'm not a complete nerd, but I actually enjoy reading the textbooks for my elemental magic classes. I'm so fascinated by all the different elements and how they can be used. I know not everyone has warmed up to the idea yet, but I think it's really important that we learn how to use it in our defense, rather than just relying on guardians all the time, especially non-royals like myself." Arabella said defensively, but I could tell she was very passionate about the subject. I smiled at her and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"I was just curious to see what you were reading. I understand why you would be defensive about it, but I'm actually very interested in it all myself. I wish I could take that class, better yet I wish I had some kind of elemental power like all moroi have; it would be so kickass to be able to physically kick some butt and do some kind of magical damage. So I encourage you to learn how to defend yourself with your magic. What do you specialize in anyways?" I asked. We stood up and started walking together towards the main hall as the start of class was drawing near.

"I specialize in earth magic. It's pretty awesome, I think there's so much to learn about it and there are some many ways I can use it in." Arabella said happily. I grinned at her and was about to part ways when an announcement came on over the intercom. "All Junior and Senior novices are to report to the gymnasium immediately. All remaining students are to attend their regular classes." I turned back to look at Arabella and she gave me a questioning look. I simply shrugged and hugged her goodbye telling her I'd see her later. I walked into the gymnasium and managed to find a spot on the bleachers to sit. The gym was packed will all us novices and noise buzzed around like crazy, you couldn't make out anything anyone was saying. My eyes wandered around the room and I spotted Hunter who was sitting at the front of the gym where all the guardians and teachers were waiting to address the room. He smiled at me and turned back to whoever he was talking to. I continued scanning the room and of course my eyes landed on no other then Landon Ivashkov. I had told Arabella about my incident with the guy yesterday and she filled me in on who exactly he was.

Flashback:

"Landon? You Mean Landon Ivashkov? Sure I know who he is. He's a senior novice, top in his class I would say. Word is he tries really hard to prove himself to be a worthy guardian. His moroi father, Daniel Ivashkov "disgraced" his royal family by marrying a human! It's a very rare occasion for a Dhampir to be born with a royal moroi surname. Landon's been fighting to prove he's more than just the result of a deranged marriage. Poor guy, he seems really sweet though, I've personally never talked to him, but he seems very popular, and he's very gorgeous." Arabella said blushing at the last part of her sentence. I rolled my eyes as she made him sound like a god, but wondered why he treated me so differently if he himself was trying so hard to prove he himself was no different than other dhampirs.

"Seems like an arrogant ass to me." I mumbled to myself. I turned back to my notebook as me and Arabella continued to work on our homework.

Coming back to the present I had realized Landon had noticed me staring at him and held my gaze. He seemed different from the day before, the look on his face was neutral. I looked down his body and noticed he was wearing a black long sleeved shirt, with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His jeans were a dark blue that were fitted to his figure. My eyes traveled back up and noticed just how nice his hair really looked. It was a sexy messy and I couldn't help wanting to run my hands through it to see if it would make it messier. I had forgotten that he was staring at me and when my eyes met his again, he was smirking with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head to refocus. I glared at him and looked back towards the front as Headmistress Kirova motioned for everyone's attention. "Fuck Arabella was right, he was gorgeous."

"Welcome to a new year at St. Vladimir's. I hope everyone is settling in well. We have called all junior and senior novices here today to make you aware of some new changes that have been made to your training curriculum and how you all will be proceeding this year. Here's Guardian Petrov to explain what will be happening." Kirov finished the formalities and Guardian Petrov stepped forward to speak.

"After having such outstanding results from the senior's class exam last year, it has been decided that this year they will receive a new challenge. The seniors have showed us that they are worthy and are able to protect and defend the moroi as they need to be. It has been decided that the seniors will face a different challenge as a guardian and will learn to train and mentor less experienced novices, the junior class. The seniors will need to show that they can mentor, encourage, and sympathize with the junior class. That being said all senior novices will be assigned to a junior and become their mentor and trainer for the remaining of the year. They will report to their original mentor who will be the same mentor all juniors originally train with, this way the juniors will continue being trained properly and your mentor can step in if need be. The senior's goal is to prepare all you juniors for your final exam. At the end of the year when you will be assigned to protect a moroi, if you succeed and pass, you will be awarded and you senior mentor will then pass for showing that they have indeed trained a good guardian. Listen to who you will be partnered with. Your first training session will start tomorrow. Good luck." I stared in shock as Guardian Petrov finished explaining how the year was to play out. I didn't know what to think or how this diversion was to affect my training. I looked again towards Hunter who simply returned my gaze with a reassuring look and smile. I stared back towards the rest of the class and noticed everyone was murmuring to each other about the new system. I stared off in a daze, not sure at all how this was going to go and worried that I wouldn't do as good as I could with Hunter as my mentor, my experienced mentor. How was some novice going to teach me to stake strigoi? Guardian Petrov had started pairing together novices rattling out names in alphabetical order. My head shot up as I heard my name being shouted.

"Belikov, Sophia, Mentor, Ivashkov, Landon." Guardian Petrov shouted then moved on to the next name. My eyes widened and my heart sank. No, hell no, this wasn't happening. I couldn't believe this; I was going to have to answer to him? That arrogant jerk? Ugh why was this happening to me? I turned and I watched Landon walk up to me with that smart ass smirk on his face.

"This should be fun Belikov, consider yourself lucky, you're working with the best novice in here. See you tomorrow morning, don't be late." Landon said lightly and with that he turned to leave with a big grin on his face. I glared at his back and left the gymnasium to head to my first class. Great, just great.

**Well what does everyone think? Getting interesting at all? Please Review! Please!**


	4. Heated Tension

**Alright here is chapter four. Thanks to everyone who is favouriting or choosing to follow the story. I was starting to feel scared that maybe really no one was interested in this side of it at all, but either way I told myself I was still going to write it because I really wanted to know this story aha. The funny this is I do go back a reread all the chapters and groan and get frustrated when I realized I've done things that really don't make sense at all. For example why in the last chapter was Sophia wearing a uniform and Landon was dressed casually? I don't know, All I know is that, yes my grammer sucks and sometimes I get screwed up and go into present tense when it should be past tense, but to credit myself more than half the time I am writing these chapters at like 12 or 1 in the morning. Anyways please enjoy this chapter! **

I woke up and instantly groaned, not only was it extremely early, I had to go and start my training with that egotistical jerk. I got up and threw on some workout clothes and brushed my hair up into a ponytail. How could the academy think I was going to learn any better this way? I walked out of my room and down the stairs to the main exit. As I walked across the grounds to the gymnasium I couldn't help my thoughts from wandering. Arabella had said that Landon was very serious about his career as a guardian. I had yet to see him in action, but if it were true I guessed even though I didn't like the guy, I could have ended up with someone worse. Before I open the door to the gym I quickly send Arabella a text telling her I'd meet her at lunch so we could hang out and talk more about the current events. As I entered the gym I closed the door and turned, immediately I stopped in my tracks. There was Landon, standing in the centre of the gym, topless, wearing nothing but sweats. He was sweating and flushed, as if he had been working for a while. His eyes were closed and behind him was a dummy. It was silent and I couldn't bring myself to move to disturb him. Suddenly he quickly turned and threw a stake right into the dummy's chest. Landon turned and opened his eyes, smirking as he realized he hit the target. I gasped not realizing I was holding my breath. Landon turned and noticed me and quickly walked over to the bleachers. He pulled a shirt over his head and dabbed his face with a towel.

"You're late." He said as he walked towards me. I rolled my eyes up wondering why everyone always noticed I was late.

"Good thing or I would have disturbed what I thought was supposed to be my training session." I snarled looking back towards him.

"I have to train sometime if I'm supposed to spend all my time looking after you." He replied as he crossed his arms across his chest. I scoffed as our eyes met and quickly looked down to avoid his gaze. Fuck why did he have to have such nice eyes. A few silent moments passed between us and then I broke.

"What time did you get up anyways? It must have been a while ago, looks like you've been training in here some time." I said as I walked past him to place my bag and hoodie on the bleachers. He put his hands in his pocket and smirked.

"I don't mind, I don't sleep much and I like training early, no one is around, it's peaceful, and I can concentrate. Plus with classes, homework, and now having to focus on training you, there is really no other option." He pauses briefly, and then speaks again. "Now shall we begin?" He asked. I nodded and moved so I was in front of him in the middle of the gym.

"Are you going to teach me to use a stake?" I asked hopefully, praying that I'd finally learn something new. Landon took his hands out of his pockets and stretched his arms out behind his back.

"Eventually yes, but not yet, you're not ready for that yet." He replied. Instantly I was infuriated and felt the blood rush to my face.

"What do you mean I'm not ready for it yet? What could you possibly teach me that I don't already know? You've seen me; you even said I was good. I can run, I can lift, I can punch, and I can kick, probably your ass for that fact. You're a novice, if you can do it why can't I? What else do I have to learn?" I finished shouting at him. He had stared at me silently as I yelled at him, the anger slowly building up in his eyes. Suddenly before I knew it, he had my arm twisted behind my back and forcefully turned me so my back was flushed against his chest with force. I struggled to free myself, but couldn't seem to escape his grip. I stopped struggling as I felt his breath against my ear.

"You think you're ready, but you're not. You think you've learned everything, but you haven't. You've just proved to me what you have yet to learn. Patience, control, maturity, decision making, self-discipline. Do you even know how hard it is to stake a strigoi? It isn't just stab in the heart you're dead. It's not easy and I know you think it is because I once thought that too. Now you can either trust that I know what I'm doing and stop being difficult and learn or you can continue in being difficult and we will both get nowhere." Landon whispered into my ear harshly. I stood against him in silence, feeling my heart beat in my chest. It was in that moment I realized that Landon wasn't exactly who I had thought he was. Arabella was right, he did take all this seriously and even I had to respect that. Maybe I was a lot like my mother in the aspect that I didn't think much before I acted. Don't get me wrong, I still didn't like the guy, he definitely knew how to get on my nerves, but I had to admit, he seemed to know what he was doing. I sighed and as my body relaxed in his grip, Landon let me loose feeling my defeat. I turned to face him and nodded.

"So where do we begin?" I asked crossing my arms across my chest. Landon looked at me for a second then smirked.

I crossed the courtyard as the last class before lunch had let out. I yawned then frowned, mom was right school was still school even away from home and I still had homework even though I didn't live at home anymore. I checked my phone as I walked to meet with Arabella and smiled. "Hope your first few days of school are going well and you're settling in ok, don't be discouraged if something doesn't go as you planned. Love you baby. –Dad." I hadn't realized how much I missed my parents until now, but my dad's words were encouraging. I spotted Arabella sitting around a table outside, but she wasn't alone. Sitting beside her in deep conversation was a boy. He was a boy I had seen before, a moroi who was fairly popular with the student body and who I believed was a senior. He had dark brown hair and I noticed dark brown eyes that almost looked black as he watched me walk towards them. He wasn't short, but he wasn't super tall either. As I had slid into the seat beside Arabella, she turned and smiled at me.

"Oh good, you're here, I was getting hungry, I was thinking we could stop at the feeders on the way to the dining hall. Oh! Goodness where are my manners, Sophia, this is Jake Dashkov, Jake, this is Sophia Belikov." Arabella blabbered out. She seemed nervous and on edge and it didn't take a genius to realize she liked this guy. I raised an eyebrow at her as she tried to avoid my eyes, then turned to smile at Jake and extended my hand.

"It's nice to meet you Jake." I said as he returned the smile and shook my hand. We all stood up and began walking to the feeders.

"Nice to meet you too, I heard lots about you, but not to worry; Arie has straightened me out, all good things I assure you." He replied. I smiled at his charm and noticed Arabella blush at her nickname. I smirked to myself as we walked into the feeder's room and joined the line. I excused myself from them and walked to the front where everyone was checking in. Mrs. Cavell, she was in charge of checking everyone in, looked up at me and smiled.

"Sophia! I figured you would be in soon, I just warmed it up for you, there's a cup for you in the microwave." Mrs. Cavell said cheerfully. I thanked her quickly and moved out of the way as people were starting to glare as I held up the line. I grabbed the cup from out of the microwave and placed a lip on top with a straw. I walked back over towards Arabella and Jake and she told me it wouldn't be that long until she could see a feeder. Jake raised his eyebrow as he stared at my cup as I sucked the blood up through the straw.

"I don't have fangs, it's just easier if I drink it this way, and maybe because I'm a dhampir, less revolting too." I replied answering his unspoken question. "I won't lie, it does taste good though." I finished off and silently smirked to myself as I realized I was making him uncomfortable. If I had to explain the blood drinking to everyone I met I realized I had to have a little fun with it. After Arabella and Jake were done with the feeders, we walked into the dining hall and grabbed some real lunch. As we sat down I dove into my chicken sandwich, after finally calling a truce with Landon for the time being, we actually managed to get lots of activity in making me feel super hungry. I watched as Arabella and Jake talked intently, their eyes so focused on one another. I rolled my eyes to myself knowing where this was going. I cleared my throat and watched as both of their eyes turned towards me as I broke up whatever conversation they were having.

"So how do you two know each other?" I asked finishing off my sandwich and taking a sip of my drink.

"Well Jake specializes in water magic and he's really good at controlling it, so he's helping out the junior class for extra credit." Arabella replied timidly. I smirked again noticing how she couldn't get that blush off her face. She perked up immediately and became super excited. "He also believes in using your magic for defense just like me and has been practicing on his own, so he's going to help me learn how to use mine! Isn't that exciting? Oh Soph, you should join us, maybe you can teach us some physical moves to so we have some extra protection." She said practically jumping out of her seat. Jake looked panicked and glanced around to make sure no one was listening.

"Arie, as awesome as that would be, I'm sure Sophia has lots to do herself and probably doesn't want to watch us sitting around learning how to use our magic." Jake said quietly. I smiled at him and shook my head.

"Don't worry Jake, I agree that you should be able to protect yourselves, I'm not going to tell anyone. I don't mind giving you guys some pointers and it'll be cool. I've always been fascinated by magic." I replied. Jake smiled as he gathered his belongings and stood up.

"Okay cool, well I have to get going, I have a few things to do before classes start again, but I'll let you know when we can get together. Bye Arie, I'll talk to you later." Jake said and smiled warmly at Arabella before he took off. I watched her gaze after him and then turn back to me with a dreamy look on her face. I raised my eyebrow up at her and she looked at me questioningly.

"What?" She asked starting to pack up her stuff. I smirked and followed her as we had to head back to our classes.

"Don't what me, I know that look, you liiike him, don't you Arie?" I teased her loving the fact that blood had still not left her face.

"I-I do not! That's absurd, we're just friends, besides he's a royal, he could never like me, we just have common interests that's all." Arabella said quickly protesting and walked ahead of me fast, escaping to her next class. I stopped in my tracks and grinned at her disappearing figure.

"Mmhmm, right, that's it." I said to myself and turned in the other direction sighing as I headed towards more homework.

** Well that's it for chapter 4, What did you think? Starting to see some character development I believe? Please Review, honestly it helps.**


	5. The Upcoming Task

**Alright people here it is chapter five! Please excuse if the writing seems a little off, there were a few times while writing this I kind of felt unsure about what I was typing so it may be awkwardly written at some points, but I hope not. Honestly this chapter was a little hard to get through, mostly because I think I have so many big things planned, but there has to be kind of filler chapters leading up to those moments, but none the less here it is and hopefully the next one will be easier to write. Please enjoy!**

Landon's POV

I sat at a table in the courtyard going over some homework. My head rested in my hands as I read over a textbook and was writing notes. I was exhausted. It had been about a month since I had started training Sophia and she definitely didn't make it easy, but her stubbornness was somehow endearing. She was infuriating however, and we butted heads every day. Every time I'd ask her to do something, she would have to question it, "why should I do that?" "What's the significance of this?" As annoying as it was she would eventually just do what I ask, but never without a fight. I fought a yawn and glanced down at my watch and noticed it was only 5 a.m. I was ready for bed and I hadn't even gone to get dinner yet. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair and returned to my notes. Less than a minute had passed when I heard someone slide into the chair in front of me. I raised my eyes up and saw that it was no other then Hunter's smirking face looking down at me. I straightened up and slouched back into my chair throwing my pencil onto my notebook.

"Come to do my homework for me?" I asked grinning knowing very well that he was definitely not here to do my homework, but he was definitely here for something. Hunter threw his head back laughing then looked back at me and shook his head no. In an instant he went from humor to serious and eyed my appearance up and down.

"How are you Landon?" Hunter asked looking a little worried. I sighed and smirked as I closed up my textbook.

"I'm fine, just a little tired, but it's to be expected with everything that's going on. I mean its senior year, I should be busy." I replied.

"Not so busy that its making you exhausted every day Landon. I know you've been getting up even earlier in the mornings before you train Sophia. I understand you want to keep your own training up, but you don't need to do it every day. Take a day off and take a break." Hunter said.

"I'm fine, really." I protested back. Hunter raised his eyebrow at me.

"You should take your own advice you know. You've learned so much, not only physically, but mentally, so think about it now. Don't push it, in order to be the best guardian you can be you can't be exhausted, how do you expect to defend and protect others when you aren't performing at your best?" Hunter explained. I realized he was right, just a month ago I was telling Sophia how ridiculous she was being for not being realistic and now here I was doing the same thing. "Anyways I came here to tell you I read your evaluation on your training with Sophia. It's really good, I'm happy with what you've shown her so far and it seems like the progress is going great from the few sessions I've seen, besides her feisty attitude." Hunter said smirking.

"Yeah, she's definitely a handful." I replied smiling, thinking about Sophia's cute angry face, wait, and where did that thought come from?

"I want you to pick up the training though. Start teaching her how to use a stake now." Hunter replied.

"I don't think she's ready for that Hunter." I protested, Hunter quickly shook his head.

"She's has to learn Landon and she has to learn fast. I know she's willing, she will be fine. Believe it or not, she's learned a lot from you this past month." Hunter said. I looked at him confused.

"What's the rush Hunter?" I asked confused as to why he was pushing this.

"A task has been arranged for the junior novices. The guardians want to see what they have learned so far since the seniors have taken over their training. To be honest, I'm a little worried about this task. I feel like there is more behind it, like there's a reason they want the juniors to be at a certain level, but regardless it's going to happen. She has to be the best she can be Landon, you have to prepare her. In two weeks you will take her out to the woods to camp for the night. She's not allowed to know about this task. Just tell her that this is something you had to do as part of your training too. At some point you'll have to disappear then disguised. The guardians will attack her and she'll have to defend herself using only her surroundings." Hunter explained. I sat there in silence for a few minutes feeling very weary.

"Why can't I warn her, I don't think that's fair, Hunter she's going to be so scared, what if she can't do it?" I asked a little more frantically then I intended to.

"Landon she'll be fine, no one is going to threaten her life. You have to believe that she can do this that your training has paid off." Hunter replied as he stood up. "I have to get going, just keep up the training and teach her how to use that stake, it'll be fine Landon." Hunter said and turned around and left. I sighed and began packing up my schoolwork. It wasn't that I didn't think Sophia could handle herself; I had no doubt that she could. She was always able to keep up with me in sparing and she had put some good points on me, heck she was probably just as good as me. I just didn't feel right throwing her out there unaware of the situation. I stood up and walked across campus to the dining hall. There was no choice, I had to do my job and she would do just fine. I decided to quickly grab an apple from the snack table and head to my room. Hunter was right, I needed a break. I decided to skip dinner and go straight to bed. The last thought I had before my head hit my pillow was, "I think I will skip my own training tomorrow."

Sophia's POV

I sat on the ground leaning against a tree as I watched Jake and Arabella working on their magic. We had found a secluded place for us to all practice in private so no one would suspect Jake and Arabella's use of magic. I watched quietly as Jake positioned himself behind Arabella, his hand gently placed on her hip, while his other hand guided her arm in a certain position. I raised my eyes and smirked as I watched Arabella's reactions. She was so cute and every time Jake would touch her in order to show her something, she was as red as a tomato. They were both so naïve to each other's feelings. At times like this I would sit quietly as if I didn't exist and just observe the two of them. One reason was indeed just business watching their natural stances to see what I could teach them, the other reason was just to see the reaction the two of them had towards one another. Jake liked her I could tell, especially when he would find any excuse to touch her. I smiled at both of their happy faces and turned my face down to look at the book I was holding. I thought about the last month training with Landon. He still had refused to teach me to use a stake, but had actually taught me things I never really thought about. We had spent sessions fighting in the dark; He would teach me simple things that would sharpen my technique, how to use my senses, how to predict, and all these things I would have never thought about. I had gotten over what had happened the first time we met and came to discover that I actually held a high respect for Landon. We had come to form some sort of partnership, but I still liked to make his life difficult. We constantly bickered, but it made sparing all the more fun. I smiled as I thought back to our training session earlier this morning.

Landon easily maneuvered to his right, missing my left swing and managed to slap the side of my head making me take a step back. I glared back towards him as he shot me a smirk bouncing back and forth from side to side.

"Come on Belikov, if you're going to be a good fighter, try making your moves a little less obvious." Landon said teasingly as he blocked another one of my punches.

"Why? Because your little fake left, punch right move is so secretive?" I asked sarcastically proving my point as I block coming at me from the right. Landon chuckled, circling around me as I watched his every move.

"It's not obvious when you're fighting a strigoi who hasn't been watching your moves for a couple of weeks." He replied smirking finally jumping forward for his attack. I quickly side stepped and stuck my foot out, causing him to stagger, but he never lost his ground.

"No, but it just makes it easier for me to kick your ass." I said smiling kicking out towards his side. He managed to grab my foot and pushed me back. I regained my balance and locked my eyes with his. I could see the determination in his eyes that I felt and we both smirked at each other.

"Shut up with the smart talking and prove it Belikov." He said never dropping his smirk and with that the fighting picked up. We both lashed out at each other, throwing punches here and there and never stopping to pause. He managed to get in a few good kicks, but I never faltered. After a few good punches at him, I managed to start making him move backwards and right when I thought I had him, he managed to bring his foot up to his chest and kick me forcing me back. He smirked and turned his back to me. Without wasting a second I took off at full force ready to jump on his back to bring him down. As I leapt into my jump, Landon quickly turned and grabbed me by the waist, but before he could swing me so he had the upper ground he managed to lose his footing and we both fell, but I had won the upper hand and had been the one to fall onto of him.

"Oof." Landon groaned as his body made impact with the ground. I had collapsed on top of him with my head resting on his chest. We both lay there a few minutes, Landon I'm sure catching his breath, but I just felt paralyzed. As my head rested against his shirt, I could feel the heat radiating from his body and smell the nice cleaned laundered smell of his shirt even though we had been working out. I brought my hands up and placed them on his chest feeling the strangest urge to caress his body and not let him go. I lifted my head and brought my eyes up to meet his. He deep green eyes were full of laughter and he raised himself up so he was resting on his elbows. "Well that's not how I planned that was going to go." He said jokingly, grinning down at me. I continued to stare into his eyes for a couple more moments, and then shook my head back into reality. I pushed his body back down into the ground and straddled his body, pushing my hand into his chest where his heart would be. I smirked at his now shocked face.

"I win." I said triumphantly and pushed myself up off of him. I offered him my hand and helped him up to his feet. "Number one rule, Ivashkov, never hesitate, it ain't over until that stake is driven into a strigoi heart." I said cockily trying not to notice the little space in between where we stood. Landon smiled and walked around me to pick up his bag and turned back to look at me.

"Even though you're cocky about it, I'll give it to you, because you're right, I should have never hesitated." Landon replied smiling. I looked at him confused and walked with him out of the gym.

"Why do you look happy about that?" I asked before we parted ways. I stiffened as he reached out and tucked an escaped strand of hair from my ponytail behind my ear.

"Because you're supposed to be able to beat me Soph, it shows me you have improved." Landon replied softly. He quickly looked into my eyes then waved as he took off towards the main building. I watched his retreating form and unconsciously felt the ear he grazed as he had tucked my hair behind my ear. This hate love teammate thing was starting to get confusing I thought as I took off to get ready for school.

I came back to the present and immediately saw bright green eyes right in my face. I jumped back further into the tree scared out of my wits.

"Ahh, Jesus Arabella, What the hell was that for?" I asked highly annoyed with my hand resting on my chest. Arabella stood back up smirking as Jake approached her from behind grinning as well.

"Well I was trying to tell you that we're done for the day, but you were off in some lala land, what was that all about anyways? What were you thinking about? Or more importantly who were you thinking about?" Arabella teased bashfully blinking her eyes towards me. I rolled my eyes and stood up gathering my stuff, noticing that it really was getting late and that there was time to grab a quick dinner before hitting the sack. The three of us walked towards the dining hall and my thoughts went back to Landon. I honestly didn't know why I was thinking of him. I mean the guy drove me crazy, when I had first met him; he made me feel insulted although he had apologized since for that, but he was still so annoying and we always clashed, fighting not only physically, but verbally all the time. Why couldn't I get the way his body had felt underneath mine though out of my head? I had never noticed how good he had smelt before either or how green his eyes really were before. I shook my head frustrated trying to rid my head of these thoughts and turned to see Arabella was still looking at me questioningly.

"No one important, I promise." I said and with that she shrugged and lit up as we walked towards the food line. I stood for a couple minutes and watched as her and Jake got in line. "I think." I said to myself before I went and joined them.

**There you have it folks! Who honestly didn't see that one coming? Aha how predictable, but it'll get better between Landon and Sophia, I hope, if my brain can write out all the perfect things I have planned. Please review or favourite or something me so it'll help motivate me to write faster. Thanks all!**


	6. The Camping Trip

**Hi everyone! I know I know, I'm horrible I made you all wait way longer then you were probably expecting to and I wasn't really planning on that happening, but I had a friend come visit me from out of town for 2 weeks and I was too busy to get another chapter posted. However it did give me time to map out some future details and I also managed to read the Indigo spell in like 24 hours which was just super amazing and so many Adrian and Sydney scenes I couldn't get enough of! Anyways here it is chapter 6! I hope you enjoy! **

Sophia POV

I sighed as I dragged my butt, slumped over across campus. It was early morning and I was walking toward my training session with Landon. The last week had seriously kicked my butt as I juggled all my daily activities. Arabella and Jake were making serious progress with their magic training and had me observing their technique and teaching them different combat moves almost every day. To add to it all, homework was piling up and Landon was really kicking my ass lately. I couldn't tell what was going on with him these days. He was always so serious and didn't even try to throw my smart ass bantering back to my face. I walked into the gym to see our usual set up of dummies around the gym. At the beginning of the week Landon finally decided we were going to start learning to use a stake, my excitement quickly faltered when we had spent the days practicing where the heart is and how much force was needed to stab through the ribcage. I threw my stuff onto the bleachers and walked over to Landon stretching my arms and neck.

"The usual I'm guessing?" I asked completing a few more stretches. Landon turned towards me and to my surprise he was flipping a stake in and out of his hands. I watched as his lips quirked a little into a smirk. He grabbed my hand and placed the stake firmly into it, clasping my fingers around it tightly.

"I figured you were ready to spice it up a bit." Landon replied, shrugging his shoulders. I clenched my hand around the stake tightly and could feel my grin from ear to ear.

"Let's do this!" I exclaimed, and do it we did. Train obviously, don't get your head in the gutter, mine wasn't or anything… Anyways I meant the next two hours were brutal. After getting the hang of the staking motion and hitting the dummies directly where I needed to, I figured I was a complete natural. Landon clearly thought otherwise. Over and over again Landon pushed me, making me do it again and again, barking and shouting at me as if I wasn't trying hard enough, breathing down my ear telling me it wasn't enough. About 15 minutes before the end of our session I finally snapped. "Alright, enough!" I shouted, throwing my stake to the ground. Landon glared at me and knelt down to pick up my stake.

"You're not working hard enough." Landon said simply, but still accepting that the session was over. I glared back towards him and stomped up to his face.

"What is with you this week? I've been working my ass off! Doing everything you say, barely refusing and you can't except that I'm doing my best?" I shouted then stepped back to catch my breath. The room remained silent for a few minutes, but my eyes grew wide when I felt Landon's hand on my shoulder.

"Look, I'm sorry I've been such a hard ass this week, I just want you to be at a point where no matter what you are able to defend yourself." Landon said softly. I stood there close to him for what felt like several minutes. All I could smell was the intoxicating cologne he wore. He stood so close; I could feel his gaze lowered down on me and the warmth of his breath against my neck. I didn't know what to say or what to believe. I had a hard time believing that was all this was about, but I decided to brush it off.

"Alright fine, but lay off a bit next time alright? I'll do the best I can." I replied. I gathered up my belongings and left the room, to go on with the rest of my crazy busy day.

Sophia's POV

"So do it like that then?" Arabella asked, demonstrating a jab punch and then a high kick. She had come a long way since we had started training, especially since it really hadn't been very long. I sighed and shook my head; she was particularly having trouble with this move.

"No Airie, it's more like this." I said demonstrating the move for her for about the 10th time. She looked at me thoughtfully, and then her expression turned to puzzlement.

"Huh, I really thought I had it that time." She said quietly. She shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the grass admitting defeat for the day. I laughed than joined her on the ground, patting her shoulder lightly.

"Don't worry, you'll get it, just need a little more practice is all." I said reassuringly. We sat in a peaceful silence for a couple minutes enjoying the nice breeze and listening to the birds that were around. "So where's Jake tonight?" I said smirking, watching as Arabella's cheeks turned a flushed pink.

"He had to study with Cory after dinner tonight, they have a big test tomorrow." She said quietly, cheeks still blazed red. I continued to smirk as she tried to avoid my gaze.

"Oh come on Arabella, just tell me, you guys are clearly screwing or seeing each other, or something. I see the way he looks at you, the guys is in love with you." I said rolling my eyes at her fake expression of shock.

"Well I wouldn't put it so vulgarly, but yes fine, we've been spending a lot of time together and he's really sweet to me. We've been getting romantic in private, but I don't want to ruin anything by saying something because I don't know if he wants something from this." Arabella said looking very unsure. I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Please Airie, I wouldn't be seeing him caressing your cheek in the hall in public if he didn't think this was something." I said as if it was the most obvious thing out there. Her face lightened up and I felt happy that I could reassure you. As I thought of how nice it was that Jake and Arabella had found each other and were obviously head over heels for each other, Landon's beautiful green eyes and teasing smile flashed through my mind. I shook my head to shake the visions and grimaced. "At least you're getting somewhere with a cute guy. All I have is busy schedules and endless training sessions with Landon who's on my ass like crazy. Especially lately, he's been acting so strange and has been on my case, it's so annoying." I said aggravated. We both stood up, grabbing our belongings. It was getting late and we both knew we needed to head back to our dorms before curfew.

"Come on Soph, I'm sure he's not that bad. Maybe he's just going through a stressful time right now. I mean I'm sure his work load is just as rough as yours. Not only does he have classes and homework, but he also has your training to take care of and is probably still working on maintaining his. I'm sure he doesn't mean to take it out on you. If I were you, I would be praising the higher powers in thanks for giving me the opportunity to spend so much time with such a fine looking young man. I mean come on Soph, he's so dreamy and has those amazing deep green eyes, and you should be all over that. From what Jake has told me, he seems to really admire you. He says when they are hanging out he speaks rather fondly of you and says how you're at the top of your class." Arabella said rather reasonably. I remained silent taking in every word she said. Fine, okay, I admit it; Landon really is a hunk, godlike, which I know I mentioned before the moment I first laid eyes on him. At the time I had meant his build and how I knew he could kick some serious strigoi ass. What really threw me off guard was hearing that he apparently really admired me. All I thought I did to him was drive him insane. I felt myself smile softly at hearing those words, but was soon shaken from my thoughts when Arabella and I had stopped at the path that led us to separate dorms.

"By the way, I meant to mention something earlier. Jake told me he's worried about the charmed guards around the grounds. Apparently there's been so rumors that the guardians are having trouble with keep them up. Do you think its history repeating itself? That maybe there are human's working with the strigoi trying to get back into the school again? Like what happened when your parents were here? Arabella asked with concern. I didn't answer her right away. This was the first time I had heard of this. I thought back to when my parents told me about that battle that day. The day my dad had been taken away and turned strigoi. I shivered at the thought and tried to smile reassuringly at Arabella.

"I'm sure it's nothing Airie, and if the guardians have wind of it, they'll take care of it and make sure the school is protected. They are prepared unlike last time." I said as lighthearted as I could be, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I wanted to protect her now more than ever. She nodded and we hugged before we went our separate ways, but I stood still outside watching her walk through the dorm before I continued on my way to my room.

Landon POV:

I felt extremely exhausted, it had been a long two weeks and I had never felt more like a nervous wreck. After what seemed like a few therapeutic sessions with Hunter, helping me keep my act together in front of Sophia, I had actually managed to make it to this day without her suspecting much. It was the day of the "camping" trip. The school day was over and I was in my dorm room preparing for the night, packing up weapons and a tent. I had told her that the overnight camping trip in the woods was just a tradition for all juniors and their mentors, a time to reflect on what they had learned and to also adapt to what may feel like an uncomfortable situation that they might have to face in the future. I looked at my watch and realized it was almost time to meet Sophia on the grounds, right before the forest. As I walked out of my room and towards our meeting spot I felt an overwhelming feeling of guilt take over me. All week Hunter had been telling me I had nothing to feel guilty about, this was my role and Sophia had to complete hers. All I could think about was her gorgeous, breathtaking, smiling face. No doubt in my mind, I knew Sophia was a hard ass and could really do a number to someone. She had managed to perfect the staking skill perfectly the last two weeks, yet I worried about how she was really going to handle a situation that felt completely real and wasn't just another day in the gym. I had all the faith in the world that she was going to get through this as the survivor, it was her innocence and how she would be traumatized that frightened me. I shook out of my thoughts as I reached our meeting place. Sophia was already there, her long, dark locks pulled back into a ponytail and her dark brown eyes looking at me in annoyance. She stood there wearing, nicely fitted jeans, running shoes, and a dark green pullover hoodie. Her arms were crossed across her chest and a backpack hung from her shoulders. I smirked as I stopped in front of her. There was something I just loved when I saw how annoyed she was with me.

"If you're going to make me go on this crazy, pointless, overnight trip into the wild, you could at least be on time for it." She said in a snarky tone. My smirk grew wider expecting nothing more than a response like that. I nudged into her shoulder as I continued walking into the forest as my response and beckoned for her to follow. I watched her roll her eyes at of the corner of mine, but knew she would be right behind me.

About an hour later we had our camp set up and a fire burning. We sat around it at first in silence, but then being like any other girl, Sophia began to strike up a conversation.

"Excuse me if I sound offensive, although I think I'm allowed to after all, but tell me, what's your deal? Everyone says that you just came here and were right away so serious about all the training, trying to prove yourself." Sophia said questioningly. We were sitting close to each other; I could feel her arm brushing against mine. I turned to face her and smiled before answering her.

"People think what they want to think, but fortunately they're fairly right. All my life, it feels like it's been a never ending battle. I love my parents very much, but because of their decisions, they've made my life a very hard one. It's one thing for a moroi to hook up with a human, but to marry one, is still something not everyone has grown accustomed to. It's even worse when the moroi is of a royalty line. My father married a human and they created the first ever dhampir with a royal bloodline. Growing up I was constantly teased about being wrong, how it was a disgrace for a dhampir to carry a royal name. My parents always tried to encourage me, telling me that I was going to go on and make a wonderful guardian and show all those people how good I really am and then they would be begging my protection. So I guess what everyone says it right. When I came here it was my goal to do nothing but whatever it took to be the best I can be, to prove to those who think I'm a disgrace to the I vashkov name will be corrected." I stopped, feeling anger boiling within me. I took a deep breath knowing I couldn't get myself worked up. I watched as Sophia looked at me with something I couldn't describe then looked back into the fire. I watched as the flames danced in her dark brown eyes.

"We're not so different from each other after all then Landon are we? Two people just trying to prove that just because there's something different about them doesn't mean we don't deserve the respect that everybody else does. Well I think you're doing a good job of showing those moroi how well you can really kick their asses if they try and mess with you; I guess that's why most of them looked so scared of you." She paused and chuckled a little bit, I'm assuming imagining most of the moroi's faces when I normally walked by. I smirked at the thought, but turned back to her when I noticed the smile had been replaced with a look of puzzlement. "Hang on; if you've always had to deal with all that growing up, then why on the day we first met did you say all those horrid assumptions to me right away?" She asked as she looked at me in the eyes. I remained silent, tracing every single detail of her face then landing back in her eyes.

"I wanted to know how you were going to react. You definitely proved to me you had a fire within you. I just wanted to help you keep it ablaze." I said smirking at her. She rolled her eyes at me, but I was surprised to see her smile deeply at me rather genuinely. We sat there for a couple of minutes just staring at each other in silence, until I heard a twig snap somewhere in the distance. Sophia's head snapped forward and her eyes widened.

"What was that?" She asked a little unsure. I sighed quietly, knowing very well that had been my warning to move aside so Sophia's test could begin. I tried to smirk as if her concern was rather funny, knowing I was only nudging her towards fear.

"You want to stake strigoi, but you're scared of a twig breaking in the forest Belikov? Don't worry; it was probably just an animal walking around into the night." I smirked as I stood up. She glared up at me and crossed her arms around her chest.

"I wasn't scared; it just startled me, that's all." She said looking back towards the trees. I nodded silently even though she couldn't see me. I gulped knowing what I had to do; I could practically feel the guardians' eyes upon me, waiting for me to make my move.

"Look I have to pee, I'm just going to go find a spot over there, and I'll be back in a couple minutes." I said as normal as I could. I watched her roll her eyes again might I add and she nodded her response. I sighed and started walking darker into the forest. My part was done and I had left her in the guardians' trap. I wished her luck and muttered silently. "Let the games begin." And then it happened.

**DUN DUN DUN! A little bit of a cliff-hanger, but hey the next chapter shouldn't take me too long and I promise you all its going to be action packed and possibly full of a lot more romance! What could be better than that? Please review it definitely helps encourage me and makes me think I need to stay up all hours of the night to write these chapters for you!**


	7. Helpless

**Alright I sincerely apologize that this has taken so long to update. I don't have a good excuse I kind of just didn't want to rush into it and wasn't really sure how I was going to approach what was going to happen next. I also apologize about this being an extremely short chapter but I figured I would start with this and hope that it'll help me be able to get into the rest of it faster. Please enjoy and review, it really helps.**

Sophia's POV

As Landon walked away, I sighed contently and watched the dancing flames of the fire. I was suddenly shaken from my thoughts when I heard a twig snap in the distance behind some trees. I quickly shot up from the log I was sitting on and looked around at my surroundings and realized I couldn't even hear Landon. I furrowed my brow in confusion wondering just how far he went to go pee and then I heard a constant rustling in the trees that was only coming closer. I felt my heart race as I began to realize that something wasn't right and felt a twisted knot in my stomach as I thought that maybe something bad had happened to Landon. I had little more time to gather my thoughts as 5 figures formed through the shadows approaching me. I felt my heart stop and my breathing becoming frantic. I slowly began to back away and the last thought I had before I bolted was never hesitate. I sprinted through the trees and could hear the figures following. I worried that they had taken Landon by surprise and that he was out there somewhere dead or badly beaten. I didn't get far when I was attacked by two of the figures. I couldn't help but think I was doomed; I was left defenseless with no weapons, only my training to protect me. As I blocked a few attacks from both men, I gathered my senses, something inside me switched and I glared at both men in determination.

Standing in between both men, I was worried I had no way out, but as I quickly ducked down to avoid both attacks coming at me, both men had run into each other, knocking one another out. I wasted no time running further away into the woods, but little time was bought as two new attackers had found their way to me. One of them managed to lock me against their body as the other approached their attack on me. I managed to kick out at the attacker's chest making him stumble back as I brought my kick to the others groin, causing him to double over in pain. I continued my escape, but soon found myself coming to an abrupt stop. The last attacker was in front of me, hiding in the shadows of the night. We remained still and silent for a moment, the only sound my ragged breathing and my rapid heartbeat in the night air. My heart was pumping with fear, feeling for the first time what it must truly feel like to be helpless. I was shaken when the attacker spoke.

"Good luck getting yourself out of this one." He said roughly. My brow furrowed at the familiarity of the voice, but had little time to think on it as he rushed towards me. I quickly dodged and throughout a kick at him and the fight between us began. It was quick and a blur, but I knew we were both feeling the effects of each other's blows. I began feeling tired and hopeless, that there was no way I was getting out of this one alive. As my body began to weaken I heard my dad's words running through my head and felt like there was nothing left for me to do. "Run Sophia, just run." I heard my dad's voice inside my head and with one more kick to my attacker's side, I quickly turned and ran. Within minutes I was doomed though, something had caught my footing and I landed hard on the ground and then I felt it, he had his hand around my ankle and was attempting to drag me towards him so he could finish me off. Panic began to feel me and I began to fight against him and push myself forward grabbing for anything that would help. My hands grasped something that could only feel like a fallen branch from a tree. Perfect a make shift stake. The attacker had managed to drag my body to his at this point and as I turned around I blocked his final blow, punching him in the face, managing to knock him backwards giving me the upper hand. I managed to land on top of him and as I brought the stick down to meet his chest; I suddenly felt warm hands grasp me around my arms. My stake shook out of my hands and my eyes widened in fear.

"It's ok Soph, you can let go now, it's over." Landon whispered softly next to my ear. My figure underneath me sat up and I noticed it was no other then Hunter with a big grin on his face. I looked around and noticed the four other attacker were all different guardian from back at school and gazed up to see Landon's sparkling green eyes looking down on me. I was shaking and I could feel the mix of sweat and tears on my face. Hunter stood up bringing both him and I to our feet.

"Well done Sophia, you past your first task. I'm very impressed with your proceedings, Landon is teaching you well." Hunter said clearly impressed. I remained silent trying to get a hold of myself. Landon's hand remained resting on my shoulder.

"This…this was all some kind of test? How…how can you do this to us? All helpless with no warning… nothing to fight with… completely defenseless…Landon how could you let me go through that, you knew all along this was going to happen." I exclaimed completely distraught, my body shaking violently.

Landon's POV

"All novices must learn what it is like out there in the real world Sophia, you're not always going to be ready to take on your enemy; you have to be able to do in unprepared. I understand you are feeling upset right now, but it is over, you have passed your first test and will continue in your training. Landon did his duty he was not trying to put you in any danger. Landon take her back to your campsite and get her settled for the night alright? Hunter said looking between me and Sophia. I watched him and the other guardians walk away and turned my attention back to Sophia when he was out of sight. I was concerned about her current state, she wouldn't stop shaking, I had never seen her look so vulnerable before and I could feel my heart clenching. As I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, she quickly pushed it off and walk towards where our campground had been. I sighed and followed close behind her without another word. The fire had mostly burnt out when we returned and Sophia climbed into the tent still without saying a word. I stood there quietly trying to remember how I had felt when I had undergone a task similar to this one, I couldn't remember feeling so traumatized, but perhaps I had repressed it from my thoughts. I hated that she was mad at me for keeping this from her. I sighed and followed her into the tent. After closing it I turned and saw that she was curled up with the sleeping bag wrapped tightly around her. I quietly laid down on my back staring up at the top of the tent. I gasped in shock as Sophia quickly turned herself into me throwing her arms around me and began sobbing into my chest. I lay frozen for a minute, but slowly wrapped my arms around her tiny frame, softly kissing her head. I caressed her back softly whispering reassuring words into her ear.

"I'm sorry I couldn't warn you, but you did great and I'm proud of you Sophia." I whispered into her ear. I continued to hold her as her sobs slowly died down and I realized she had drifted to sleep. I smiled as I held her tighter drifting to sleep myself.

**Alright that's it for this one folks… looks like Sophia and Landon are getting a little bit cozier here doesn't it, but it's not to say things are just going to openly blossom from here. Please tell me what you think! Until next time.**


	8. The Fire Within

**Ok so this took me forever, but I have so many thoughts in my head that I'm trying not to rush everything at once. I think this is actually very poorly written and its short but what I wanted to happen next because it finally reveals what I want to be revealed about Sophia all along. So enjoy!**

Sophia's POV

I had spent the remainder of my weekend mostly hidden away in my dorm room. The new school week began and I couldn't have felt more exhausted from the rollercoaster of emotions going through my head. The task had been more than traumatizing and I had felt anger for not knowing about it, but at the same time elated for actually being able to kickass in the situation. I also couldn't stop thinking about Landon. I was so angry with him for not shedding light on the situation, but couldn't shake the night we had shared in the tent. I couldn't shake the feeling of his warm embrace around me as he tried to comfort me. Our practice session had been cancelled for today and I didn't see him once around campus. I sighed as I walked towards Arabella and Jake, meeting them where we normally met to practice. I tossed my book bag on the ground near the tree I usually leaned up against, barely having a chance to regain my posture as Arabella had tossed herself into my arms.

"Oh my God! Sophie I heard about the test in the woods! I can't believe they didn't tell you that it was happening. Are you all right? Everyone's been saying that you kicked all the guardians' asses. Everyone also seems to be really impressed with Landon; they say he must be a really good mentor." Arabella said coming up short of breath. I raised one eyebrow up at her and glanced over to Jake who just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I'm fine Arie, and I'd really rather not talk about it okay? Let's just get this training session over with, I'm tired, it's been a long day, I have tons of homework, and I have no idea where Landon's been all day, but I'm pretty sure he'll want me up bright and early tomorrow for training, not to mention I haven't had any blood all weekend, I'm a little cranky." I replied in a bottomless rant. Arabella frowned at me in sympathy and wrapped her arm around me.

"Awe poor Sophie, I'd give you some, but the majority of us don't go walking around with it in Sippy cups." Jake said teasingly with a big grin on his face. I glared and kicked his feet from underneath him, causing him to fall flat on his back.

"So you're first today then Jake?" I said teasingly, grinning down at him on the ground. He mockingly laughed and got to his feet in the fighting stance I had shown him.

"Okay Sophie, bring it on." Jake responded cockily. I laughed amused and knocked him back to the ground again in one swift movement. I shook my head as Arabella gave me a stern look, trying to hide her amusement.

"Oh Jakey, so much to learn still." I said teasingly as he stood up and we continued to practice.

Landon's POV

I walked around campus in a slightly bad mood. Everyone had spent the majority of the day trying to ask me about the night in the woods. I knew I shouldn't have been angry, everyone was just impressed with my work, but I couldn't shake the guilt of the look on Sophia's face that night. I didn't want to think about it anymore and just wanted to find Sophie so we could move forward from this. Class had ended not too long ago and I couldn't find her anywhere and my annoyance was only rising as I continued to search the grounds for her. I stood in the courtyard momentarily as I scanned the grounds for her and felt a presence walk up beside me. Without even looking, I knew who it was and smirked.

"What secret message have you come to bring me this time oh wise one?" I said smirking as I turned to look at my mentor, Hunter. He returned the smirk and shrugged his shoulder.

"They are not all secret Landon; I just need you to pass on a message for me to Sophia, since it seems I probably won't be seeing her around anytime soon. Just let her know that the Queen is sending her parents over for a visit to help with the final tasks for you senior novices, so she will be lucky enough to see her parents soon." Hunter replied.

"Well at least it's some good news." I mumbled as Hunter grinned back at me. He turned to walk away shouting over his shoulder to give Sophia his best. I rolled my eyes and continued on my search. As a continued walking to an area that was never very populated with students, I could hear voices coming from a secluded area within a circle of trees. As I got closer, I stopped in my tracks in shock. There in the middle was Sophia teaching her two friends Arabella Swan and Jake Dashkov guardian combat moves. All thoughts of telling Sophia about her parents visit went out the window as my bad mood flared up in anger.

"What do you think you are doing?" I shouted. The three of them turned towards me in shock, the two moroi looking frightened, while Sophia just looked annoyed.

Sophia's POV

I turned to see a very angry looking Landon standing there and rolled my eyes at his intrusion. Ignoring his outburst I turned back towards my friends and grabbed my book bag.

"We'll meet here again on Wednesday guys okay? I'll see you then." I said and with that turned around and purposefully walked past Landon shoving into his shoulder with mine. I heard him growl, but turn swiftly on his feet to follow me. He quickly caught up to me and walked briskly by my side.

"What do you think you were doing? You can't teach the moroi how to defend themselves, that's our job, plus you can get in trouble, you know how taboo that is? He seethed angrily. I didn't bother looking at him to respond.

"What? Just as taboo as a moroi marrying a human and having a dhampir baby? Come on Landon, there's no harm in teaching them how to defend themselves. Do you know how in handy that could be with their elemental magic; we could defeat strigoi like nothing with their help." I replied coldly. Landon had stopped in his tracks and I turned around to face him. My stomach sunk a little in guilt as I noticed the hurt look on his face.

"That was a low blow don't you think? I've worked hard my whole life to get where I am today, to show everyone I can do what I was born to do, to prove myself. I've made myself worthy of protecting the moroi; I don't need what I've worked so hard to become taken away from me." Landon replied, every word getting thicker and thicker with emotion and in that moment I noticed the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. For a moment I remained silent and then laughed.

"Don't worry Landon; you won't have to worry about that, not all the moroi will be keen on learning to defend themselves. Some of them want to pretty boys like you to keep around." I replied smugly. Landon glared and walked closer towards me.

"Stop behaving like such a bitch just because I did my duty and didn't tell you about the test, you're being immature." Landon seethed through his teeth. My temper flared and I pressed closer towards him.

"You arrogant jerk!" I shouted.

"Dramatic, reckless, fool!" Landon replied through gritted teeth. Sophia gasped and clasped her fists next to her side.

"Who are you calling drama-." I began but was interrupted by a set of lips pushing aggressively against mine. My eyes widened as I felt Landon pulling me into him. My anger soared and I fought angrily against him to get him off. Landon was strong and it became a difficult battle and I could feel him smirking against my lips and I pushed harder against his chest and then the most shocking moment of my life happened.

"Get off!" I shouted with my eyes clenched tight. I heard the shocked scream of Landon and opened my eyes to see a shocking sight. There was Landon, 5 feet ahead of me on the ground with a burnt hole through his shirt. I looked down at my hands shaking; the skin was pink and hot. Landon stood up slowly and walked towards me taking my burning hands into his, observing. I touched one hand to his chest to where the hole in his shirt was and clasped myself onto him for dear life.

"Whoa." Landon whispered keeping his arms around me to steady my shocked frame.

"Did what I think just happened happen?" I whispered quietly taking comfort in the smell of Landon's clean smelling scent.

"That you pretty much just proved you're not just any dhampir and shot a ball of fire at me? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that just happened." Landon replied quietly into my ear. My eyes widened and I tightened myself if possible even more to Landon's embrace.

"Wow." I whispered barely audible. Landon and I stood there in what felt like forever, not sure where to go from there.

**Please Review!**


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